Journal of Student Research 2012

Vehicle Ownership and Quality of Life

91

vehicles at reduced cost. The sample design for this study was non-random and purposive. Data Collection Instrument To identify family members’ attitudes toward reliable, private vehicle ownership and its relationship to quality of life, a survey was designed with a brief description of the study, risks and benefits, time commitment, confidentiality, voluntary participation, contact information for counseling services and the supervisor, and instructions for completing the survey. The survey consisted of seven demographic questions regarding the date of purchase of the vehicle and the participants’ gender, age, household composition, employment status, annual income, and sources of income, as well as 13 closed-ended statements based on a 5-point Likert scale used to measure the intensity of the participants’ attitudes ranging from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). Statements and questions were informed by literature, theory, and program participants’ feedback provided to me by the program manager at the community-based organization. The survey instrument has both face validity and content validity as there is a logical correlation between the survey statements and the research question, and the statements address quality of life barriers commonly cited, but not investigated, in studies of the low-income population. Procedure The survey process began with a meeting with employees of the com munity-based organization to describe the purpose of this research and ask for permission to survey their clients. In addition, we discussed the need the program addressed in the community and what areas of life participants felt were improved by participating in the program. The program manager granted permission to survey their clients and provided a list of telephone numbers and first names of participants of the program. Surveys were administered via telephone, and calls lasted approximately 10 minutes. Of the participants that were reached, one chose not to participate in the survey due to time constraints. Data Analysis Plan The data was first cleaned and checked for missing data and then coded using acronyms for each variable. The first seven questions were demographic variables which included gender, age, employment status,